The applicant is well aware of various scales to weigh fish. Applicant is equally aware of portable and hand held scales to weigh fish. Similarly, the applicant is well aware that the only fish weighing scales, portable in nature, are of the spring variety and further, he is aware of no scales which include an LED visual readout and is only aware of direct and dial readout scales, the latter normally not being used in portable form. Normally, these scales are highly inaccurate and have been the cause of many discussions. Accuracy in fishing contests and for record import are important to fishermen. Primarily for these reasons, the applicant has provided the scale described herein.
The prior art is relatively limited as to the application of and usage of strain gauges for weighing articles and is absent of any showing of a strain gauge in a portable scale.
Prior art that the applicant was able to discover which includes the use of strain gauges and is applicable for weight measurement includes several United States Patents. These patents include references to load cell devices which, for practical and applied purposes, would include strain gauges. Such Pats. include: No. 4,146,100 Jacobson et l; 4,061,198 to Caldicott; 3,559,059 to Martin et al; 2,955,811 to Jonas et al and 2,467,752 to Howe.
These patents all illustrate various means employing strain gauges or load cells in various applications but, in final effect, none of them illustrate a unit which acts simply as a scale. For example, even though a scale is illustrated in the Howe patent, the loading of the unit is to provide an incremental reading of a piece of material to which the strain gauge is attached and this is commonly thought to be the use of a strain gauge. Plainly stated, applicant's use is directly opposed to normal strain gauge usage, such usage being to determine a final effect placed upon a piece of material by a known weight as compared to applicant's use which is to determine the weight of an article by knowing the parameters of the gauge and applying the unknown weight thereto.
It is therefore an object of the applicant's invention to provide a portable, highly accurate scale for weighing of articles such as fish.
It is a further object of the applicant's invention to provide a portable, accurate scale for the weighing of fish and similar articles which is weather resistant and operable under adverse conditions.
It is still a further object of the applicant's invention to provide a portable scale for the weighing of fish and similar articles which incorporates a strain gauge to measure the weigth ot the articles and which incorporates appropriate electronic circuitry to convert the measurement of strain placed upon the gauge by the weight of the articles and convert the same to a visual readout.
It is yet a further object of the applicant's invention to provide an accurate, portable scale for the weighing of fish and similar articles which provides means for attaching and connecting other sensing units thereto which are selectively arranged for incorporation into the circuitry of the unit for testing water conditions.
These and other objects and advantages of the applicant's unit will more fully appear from a consideration of the accompanying drawings made in association with the accompanying description of a preferred form of the invention.